Ate
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2008-07-02T01:52:06Z
Dante Brand
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{{Greek myth (personified)}}
''''''Ate''''', (in Greek ατή) a Greek word for "ruin, folly, delusion", is the action performed by the hero, usually because of his or her [[hubris]] that leads to his or her death or downfall. There is also a [[goddess]] by that name ('''Até''') in [[Greek mythology]], a personification of the same.
In [[Homer]]'s ''[[Iliad]]'' (Book 19) she is called eldest daughter of [[Zeus]] with no mother mentioned. On Hera's instigation she used her influence over Zeus so that he swore an oath that on that day a mortal descended from him would be born who would be a great ruler. Hera immediately arranged to delay the birth of [[Heracles]] and to bring forth [[Eurystheus]] prematurely. In anger Zeus threw Até down to earth forever, forbidding that she ever return to heaven or to [[Mount Olympus (Mountain)|Mt. Olympus]]. Até then wandered about, treading on the heads of men rather than on the earth, wreaking havoc on mortals.
The [[Litae]] ("Prayers") follow after her but Até is fast and far outruns them.
[[Apollodorus]] (3.143) claims that when thrown down by Zeus, Até landed on a peak in [[Phrygia]] called by her name. There [[Ilus]] later, following a cow, founded the city of Ilion, that is [[Troy]]. This flourish is chronologically at odds with Homer's dating of Até's fall.
In [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Theogony]]'' (l. 230) the mother of Até is [[Eris (mythology)|Eris]] ("Strife"), with no father mentioned.
In [[Nonnos]]' ''Dionysiaca'' (11.113), at Hera's instigation Até persuades the boy Ampelus whom [[Dionysus]] passionately loves to impress Dionysus by riding on a bull from which Ampelus subsequently falls and breaks his neck.
In the play ''[[Julius Caesar (play)|Julius Caesar]]'', Shakespeare introduces the goddess Até as an invocation of vengeance and menace. Mark Antony, lamenting Caesar's murder, envisions{{quote|"And Caesar's spirit, ranging for revenge,<br />
With Ate' by his side come hot from Hell,<br />
Shall in these confines with a monarch's voice<br />
Cry "Havoc!" and let slip the dogs of war, ...}}
==See also==
*E.R. Dodds, ''The Greeks and the Irrational'', University of California Press.
*[[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Theogony]]''
*[[Roberto Calasso]] - ''The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony''
[[Category:Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Greek goddesses]]
[[Category:Ancient Greece]]
[[Category:Offspring of Zeus]]
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